A question about Roddenberry's first intentions for TNG.

[Tomalak]

Ah ok. IIRC Hurley wasn't on the show at the very beginning, so it may have just been what he had been told. It may be that positive feedback from the audience meant they looked to develop Worf, as he was very much a black canvas, being such a late addition to the crew.

 

[Agenda]

I credit Gene Roddenberry with being the most significant creative force behind Star Trek. But we have to keep in mind that the guy wasn't very successful outside of Star Trek, and he didn't produce anything successful inbetween TOS and TNG, which was a period of almost 20 years. I've always been under the impression that he was rather "out of touch" with things by the time 1987 rolled around.

 

[BillJ]

I credit Gene Roddenberry with being the most significant creative force behind Star Trek. But we have to keep in mind that the guy wasn't very successful outside of Star Trek, and he didn't produce anything successful inbetween TOS and TNG, which was a period of almost 20 years. I've always been under the impression that he was rather "out of touch" with things by the time 1987 rolled around.

I don't wholly agree... if you edit out the costs for Phase II that was dumped into The Motion Picture bottom line, then The Motion Picture would look quite successful financially.

 

[RAMA]

I credit Gene Roddenberry with being the most significant creative force behind Star Trek. But we have to keep in mind that the guy wasn't very successful outside of Star Trek, and he didn't produce anything successful inbetween TOS and TNG, which was a period of almost 20 years. I've always been under the impression that he was rather "out of touch" with things by the time 1987 rolled around.

Not his fault, many people who worked with him in the 70s say several of his pilots and plans for ongoing series were quite good. The Questor Tapes is one of my favorite SF TV movies ever. Too often it was the studio that interfered with his plans and GR bailed out on the projects. In the case of Questor Tapes the show was approved to be a series but GR felt they made too many changes, and so the project never moved forward. The studio kept GR busy from 1975 to 1980, continually changing plans for the ST film/tv movie/series (starting with a 1975 script about JFK), and accepting a script for STII before finally parting ways. Then the studio came back to HIM after exploring options on getting a new series back on air just 6 years later.

RAMA

 

[Noname Given]

I credit Gene Roddenberry with being the most significant creative force behind Star Trek. But we have to keep in mind that the guy wasn't very successful outside of Star Trek, and he didn't produce anything successful inbetween TOS and TNG, which was a period of almost 20 years. I've always been under the impression that he was rather "out of touch" with things by the time 1987 rolled around.

Honestly, while G.R. did come up with the concept (although to be honest, it was Forbidden Planet retooled for TV) - I'd disagree and say Gene L. Coon was the real creative force that took G.R.'s Star Trek concept and really fleshed it out and expanded it with elements we just take for granted at part of Star trek today.

Rememebr in the original pitch (and early episodes) it was a 'United Earth" ship - Gene L. Coom was the one who expanded this into The United Federation of Planets (which would explain what Mr. Spock was doing on it, again something that G.R. kind of glossed over - ie WHY would a ship sent from Earth have an alien assigned as crew?)

So, often I think the cotributions of Gene Coon either are forgotten or attributed to Gene Roddenberry.

 

[RAMA]

I credit Gene Roddenberry with being the most significant creative force behind Star Trek. But we have to keep in mind that the guy wasn't very successful outside of Star Trek, and he didn't produce anything successful inbetween TOS and TNG, which was a period of almost 20 years. I've always been under the impression that he was rather "out of touch" with things by the time 1987 rolled around.

Honestly, while G.R. did come up with the concept (although to be honest, it was Forbidden Planet retooled for TV) - I'd disagree and say Gene L. Coon was the real creative force that took G.R.'s Star Trek concept and really fleshed it out and expanded it with elements we just take for granted at part of Star trek today.

Rememebr in the original pitch (and early episodes) it was a 'United Earth" ship - Gene L. Coom was the one who expanded this into The United Federation of Planets (which would explain what Mr. Spock was doing on it, again something that G.R. kind of glossed over - ie WHY would a ship sent from Earth have an alien assigned as crew?)

So, often I think the cotributions of Gene Coon either are forgotten or attributed to Gene Roddenberry.

Credit where credit is due...Coon also worked on Questor Tapes. Justman also collaborated on TWO series...let's include all the writers too..however GR's influence reached every ST project, from TOS, to TAS, to the TV movie/STTMP, to STNG.

 

[Agenda]

There's a lot of credit to go around for Star Trek. But if I've got to choose one person, it must be Roddenberry. I'm not trying to at all discount what writers like Coon or Fontana did. I'm also not discounting the actors. I firmly believe that if it wasn't Shatner and Nimoy at the helm, Star Trek would never have been what it was.

As for Roddenberry after TOS...yes, he did produce TMP. But Paramount was disappointed by his work on it, which is why he didn't do Star Trek II. As for TNG, I'm not sure why they got him to do it after TMP, but we can all see from the first two seasons that it just wasn't up to the quality it would reach after his influence lessened.

 

[Christopher]

As for Roddenberry after TOS...yes, he did produce TMP. But Paramount was disappointed by his work on it, which is why he didn't do Star Trek II.

It wasn't so much disappointment at the quality of his work as it was concern about whether he could manage costs effectively. TMP cost the studio a hell of a lot of money (although they threw in the cost of developing Phase II as well, which kind of exaggerates it) and they wanted their next Trek production to be more economical. They brought in Harve Bennett because he was an experienced TV producer (with several more series under his belt than Roddenberry had) and they knew he could keep to a budget.